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Mabch 17, 1855.1 THOB IiEAD^S B. 233
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Imperial Parliament. Lar The House Of .L...
of morality , than sneak and snivel over the qprnions of a canting methodiat rather than those of a bold infidel . "—The motion was carried bjr « 7 to 63 .
EDUCATION OF PXUPEB CHltBR ^ N IK IRELAND . Mr J . Ball moved that it is expedient that more effectual means should be adopted to improve the education of pauper children in Irelabd . According to public returns , the average population in the work-Houses of Ireland in the year 1853 amounted to 150 , 000 , more than one-half of which consisted of children under fifteen years of age . No fewer than 40 000 of these pauper children were either orphans or ' had been deserted fey their natural protectors during the horrors of the late famine m Ireland . The ir number had , no doubt , somewhat diminished since 1853 ; but there certainly could not be less than 30000 of that helpless class of children at present
re-, quiring support and instruction from the State . The education is very defective , owing mainly to the insufficiency of the teachers , who are paid at the most miserable rate . Another evil is , that the religious instruction given to the children is at present imparted in too sectarian a spirit . In Ulster there are thirteen unions in which there is no Roman Catholic teacher , though the great majority of the poor profess the fioman Catholic religion . In one ease , there was not a single Protestant pauper in the workhouse , and yet the board of guardians thoug ht themselves justified in refusing to appoint a Roman Catholic officer , and of placing a Protestant teacher exclusively over the inmates . On the other hand , there
are instances where the power possessed by a Roman Catholic board of guardianshas been similarly abased . The practice of sending-children to the gaol instead of the workhouse , because of the cost being spread over a larger district , was another reprehensible custom . In England , Parliament gave an annual vote for the payment of teachers , and Mr . Ball asked the House to extend the 6 ame principle to Ireland . — Mr . Keknedt also appealed in'behalf of the Irish teachers , the incomes of many of whom scarcely exceed the wages of the humblest labourers in England . —Mr . Horsmait admitted that the existing
system is very deficient , and that the law requires such an amendment as will enable it to act compulsorily upon the local guardians ; but said that , as a great improvement is coming-over Ireland , it was unreasonable to ask the Government to contribute pecuniary aid towards the desired _ objeet . —Lord Palmerston , alluding to the claim made upon the Consolidated Fund , said that Ireland already receives 730 , 000 / . from that source , while England only obtains . 362 , 000 / . —an assertion _ against which Mr . French and Mr . Grogan protested , as not containing a complete statement of the case . —The motion was negatived by 80 to 32 .
THE FAST DAT . The Chancellor of the Exchequer , in answer to a question by Sir Joshua Walmslby , said he was informed it was not the practice in the departments of the Admiralty , Ordnance , Board of Works , Postoffice , or Custom-house , to stop a day ' s pay of the ¦ workmen on any Fast Day . disqualification of members by theacceptance OF OFFICE . Mr . Wrightson moved for leave to bring in a bill to alter and amend the Act 6 Anne , c . 7 , so far as it relates to the vacating seats in Parliament on the acceptance of office , and exp lained that its simple object was to provide for the case of persons exchanging from one office to another . —The motion was agreed to . ¦ FRIEITOLT SOCIETIES BILL .
In-the House of Commons on Wednesday , on the order for going into committee on the Friendly Societies Bill , the object of which is to consolidate and amend the law relating to these societies , Mr . Sorope questioned the policy of appointing Government officers to associations which undertook contracts they were unablo to fulfil , and which were not to be depended on for a long term of years . —Sir George Grey thought the object of the " bill most useful . Great care , ho believed , had been bestowed upon it ; the subject had not come before the House
for the first time ; it had been considered by a select committee , and this was the same bill which had come from the select committee . Some points adverted to by Mr . Scrope deserved consideration ; but he should reserve his observations thereon until the committee . —Mr . Bright and Mr . Pellatt having spokon in favour of the bill , the House went into committee . —In the discussion whioh ensued , clauses 6 , 7 , and 8 , constituting a central unpaid commission were withdrawn , and clauses 19 , 30 , 40 , and 44 wore struck out . The rest of tho clauses and tho schedule were agreed to .
MUTINY BILL . in the House of Lords , on Thursday , on the motion for the third reading of the above bill , Lord Grey inquired on what principlo first commissions in tho nrmy wore granted . Ho should be unwilling hastily to abolish tho practice of granting commissions by purchase , but , on tho other hand , he tow certain that a system of purchaso could not be
maintained unless there was confidence in the public mind that the officers were perfectly competent for command . Lord Panjitoe answered that it had been the practice to give first comnaiflsions without purchase to some of tiie cadets-who had distinguished themselves at the Military College at Sandhurst ; next to the sons of officers who had distinguished themselves in her Majesty ' s service ; and nett , as he was informed by the Commander-in-Chie £ to the sons of poor deserving clergymen . When the names of all these classes were exhausted , commissions were given to those who stood first on the list of applicants . A great many commissions had recently been distributed among the last class of persons . To meet the present demand for officers , the age for qualification was extended from eighteen to twentytwo years .
The Earl of Em / kbtboroogh wished to aek whether the report was correct that not less than 10 , 000 European troops were to be withdrawn from India . He saw also that volunteering was allowed from among those who had enlisted for service in India into regiments about to proceed to the Crimea ; the effect of which was to reduce the Indian army materially below the ordinary number , and also to deprive the regiments at present in India of the recruits
necessary for filling up the vacancies . Lord Pakmdre said that it was the intention of Government to withdraw only two regiments of cavalry , the 12 th Light Dragoons and another ; and that with reference to the reduction generally -of the number of European troops in India , he Could assure the noble earl that the greatest caution had been , and would continue to be , observed , and that none would be withdrawn without the strongest necessity . The bill was then read a third time and passed .
THE EMBODIMENT OF THE MILITIA . The Earl of Malmesbury rose to put a question to her Majesty ' s Government respecting the militia , as to the furlough to be given to married men , and also as to the maintenance of their wives and families . He regretted to say that the impulse which had at first been given throughout the country , and which had been acted upon most nobly by the great mass of the people , seemed to have died away . He thought the first" cause of "the cessation in recruiting was an apparent , if hot a real , breach of faith on the part of the Government and Parliament . In 1852 the militia was raised upon the understand-, ing that the men were only to serve twenty-eight days in the year , except in the case of an invasion . In 1854 war was declared , and a new bill was necessary for embodying the militia . The men who then
enlisted received a larger bounty than those who joined in 1852 , and very naturally so , because a greater demand was made upon their time , and greater liabilities were imposed upon them . But the matter was never sufficiently understood by the men of 1852 , if he might so call them , that they were liable to be embodied , and to be subject to permanent service for five years . The consequence was , that a great number of married men , who w 6 uld not have enlisted in a force that was to be permanent , but" who"had rfo ~ objection to" devote a " montli ~ duruig the year , found themselves drawn into liabilities of which they had no conception . This had the effect of throwing a great number of their wives and children upon the parishes . He had understood that the men were not to go abroad except with their own free will : but this had proved not to be the
case . Lord Panmttre said that , by a circular issued from tho "War Office last November , the commanding officers of militia regiments were directed to call out such men as they deemed fit by age , employment , & c , and then to report as to the expediency of granting furloughs . With reference to the disembodied and embodied militia , the case was totally different . And , as the circular pointed out , with regard to tho embodied militia , when it was found that families were thrown upon the parish by the absence of tho head of the family engaged in tho militia , it had been decided to allow those men to go to their homes upon repaying the enlistment money , 18 s . 6 d ., which they had received ; but , failing that , it was determined to let thorn have a free discharge .
REAL PROPERTY OV INTESTATES . In tlio House of Commons on Thursday , Mr . Locke Kino moved for leave to introduco a bill for better settling the real estates of intestates . His proposition , he said , was simply this , that where a person died possessed of landed property , tho law should make for him a just mil , and divide the proporty among his relations ; precisely such a will as the law inndo now when an lntcstuto died leaving personalty only . Ho denied that this avus an attempt to introduco tho French system . " With regard to the argument that it w , as for tho advantage of a country that ' the Innd Should bo divided jinto largo estates , he could rofor to the property which oxistod in Ireland when that was tho case . By tho present system , a groat amount of misery and distress had boon caused . Mr . King proceeded to cito various cases
which had been brought to his notice , in > Arfaieh , -notwithstanding the known wishes of thedeeeaaed'per son that his property should be eqaially < dxvicled among his children , it had , upon Ms dying intetftave , gone to the eldest son , and the remainta *; children had been left destitute ; -and also cases in -which wires of persons possessed of real property had also been left in poverty . Among other eaaea / there was one of a plumber and glazier who married the daughter of a respectable farmer , who . gave ker several hundred pounds . No settlement was made , and some time after the marriage the * husband laid out the whole of this money in the purchase of-a piece of land . He subsequently died intestate and
without children . The land went to the heir-atlaw , a nephew , and the widow was left entirely destitute . She is now a menial servant in a farmhouse . He did not ask-that those who had already succeeded to property under the present law , should give up that property with a view to a more equitable distribution . All he asked was , that the House should prevent the repetition of the occurrences he had mentioned . At present the younger children of intestate landed proprietors were not acknowledged by the law , but were treated as illegitimate ; and he hoped the Legislature would raise them from the degraded position in which they were placed . —The motion was seconded by Mr . Massey .
The Solicitor-General opposed the motion , on the ground that such an alteration of the law was fraught with danger to the institutions of the country ; that it struck at the root of primogeniture , and would effect the indefinite subdivision of landed property and the destruction of the aristocracy . In the course of his speech , he made the strange admission that " the question was not to be discussed upon the abstract principles of natural justice , but upon the principles by which the constitution of the country was established ; " a remark which was favourably received by the House with cries of " Tear , hear / " He denied that the principles of justice were violated by the present state of the law ; but thought that it would not affect the argument if they were .
Mr . Ewart and Mr . Waenee supported the motion ; and Mr . Locke King , in reply , denied that his object was to strike at primogeniture . —Upon a division , there appeared—for the bill , 84 ; against , 156 ; majority , 72 .
PROBATE BTJTT . Mr . Williams moved the following resolution : " That , in the opinion of this House , real property and impropriate tithes should be made to pay the same probate duty as is now payable on personal property , and that property belonging to corporations , universities , colleges , bishoprics , and deans and chapters , should pay a duty equivalent to the probate and legacy duties levied on personal property . " The injustice of which he complained arose in 1796 * Mr . Pitt in that year brought in a bill , subjecting all descriptions of property to the payment of probate and legacy duty ; but the landed aristocracy contrived to obtain an exemption in favour of real property . - H 1 is . in 3 ustice . had . been in . some measure removed by the late Chancellor of the Exchequer , when he levied legacy duty upon real property to
half the extent of that which was levied upon personal property . The motion-which he now proposed related to probate duty alone ; and his object was to apply to real property tho same tax as was paid upon personal property . The argument formerly used against him , that landed property was subjected to much heavier duties for stamps than other descriptions of property , could no longer be urged , because those duties had been reduced five years ago . The necessities of the war demanded extra revenue ; and tho bill which he proposed would realise at least 2 , 500 , 000 / . a year . Ho denied that the land was more taxed than other property—an assertion which had long ago been disposed of ; on the contrary , he could easily prove that tho poor were taxed more than the rich . The motion was
seconded by Mr . Hadfield . Tho Chancellor of tho Exchequer said that Mr . Williams appeared to have confounded the legacy and the probate duty , and had omitted to stato tho precise nature of the probate duty , and the distinction between real and personal property on which tho probate duty is founded . The present state of the lawhas grown out of tho jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Courts , which jurisdiction was confined in such matters to ' personal property . . A will devising real in tho Ecclesiastical
nroncrtv ncecl not be proved Courts -Sthe probato duty , being a duty on tho movinVof wills in those courts , is ncccssnnly coii-S to wi Is affecting personalty . Tho alteration demanded would nocosaitato a complete change hi th ? Wors of the Ecclesiastical Courts ; and . this w , a ^ niatt cr of great difficulty . Mr . Williams Zuld lave submiUod , in a Committee of Ways and Moans , some distinct plan of overcoming tho obstacle In the extensive measure relating to tho lemSv and succession duties , fntroduced two years S Uy Mr . Gladstone , a Bettlcmcnt was como to whichit would not bo prudent now to disturb . It
Mabch 17, 1855.1 Thob Iiead^S B. 233
Mabch 17 , 1855 . 1 THOB IiEAD ^ S B . 233
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 17, 1855, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17031855/page/3/
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